KrazyKrizic

The Strokes - Is This It

The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever You Say I Am, That's What I Am Not

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

At least that's all I can think of. I don't pick favourites, really.

mr dave

Soundgarden - Ultramega OK (1988)

Not only my favourite debut disc, it's also my favourite Soundgarden album. I'm left to assume Hiro Yamamoto's initial presence and influence in the band is what puts this disc on par with Superunknown and the fact that it was released before CDs became the defacto album standard forced a more focused effort.

The album also showcases the dark humour that permeated the band in their early days before success turned them into serious musicians. The title specifically was meant to poke fun at the superfluous and absurd re-branding of boring products in the late 80s. It seemed like everything being sold on shelves was some sort of Super Ultra Extra Wowwie! version of the same OK grade stuff from the not too distant past.

Lucky for the listeners the album was not OK grade stuff. It was freaking awesome. Cornell actually sounds a bit like Ozzy at some points but when he starts wailing on a track like 'Beyond the Wheel' or the cover of 'Smokestack Lightning' it's all Cornell. The production on Thayil's guitar playing might have cleaned up a bit over the years but it's still obvious he's had his sound since the start. Cameron's drumming is just as fluid and innovative as anything else he'd go on to do with the band, check out 'He Didn't' for proof.

The one thing that does stand out from the rest of their catalog is again Yamamoto's bass playing. His leads were far more melodic than Ben Shepherd's subsequent work, it's not that one is better than the other, just different. He also handles vocal duties on 'Circle of Power' granting that song a manic feel that I just can't imagine Cornell being able to pull off.

Then you get the hilarious 665 / 667 as well as the cover of John Lennon's 'One Minute of Silence' where if you pay close attention you can hear one them b!tching to the other about looking at his watch. 665/667 were recorded in direct response to the parental groups looking to blame heavy metal being played backwards for all the ills of the world and Satanic shenanigans. It kind of does sound like Cornell is signing about Satan due to the heavy post-production, but the reality is - he's asking Santa to please bring him a bike.

The song I linked above really encapsulates the disc and band for me. Starting with an acoustic guitar, then some borderline shred-punk riffing before a psychedelic breakdown with a nice bass lead. It's got something of everything and so did this album. It would take the band 3 more albums before they reached this level again and it would only last for that one disc.

Soundgarden was not like the others, and this debut proves it.

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i am the universe

Screen13

Maybe I should have stated that it did encourage a few people in the music industry to take notice and dare themselves to get a little more adventurous.

There were some bands that had a darker sound, yes. Maybe not similar but certainly interesting.

The Music Machine - The "Talk Talk" band (I mean the Garage Punk "Talk Talk" Band," not to be confused with Mark Hollis' band) were not similar but shared a few things: all in black, killer Fuzz Bass sound, Sean Bonniwell's lyrics that were more advanced than a lot of other Garage Punk bands of the day (although instead sung in a very Soulful voice), slightly Gothic sound through Doug Rhodes' organ. Sadly, their record company, Original Sound, wanted covers on their debut, making it weaker than what it could have been.

The Doors - Dark and sometimes mysterious, they were more easier to approach than The VU. It's not a dismissal, I love a lot of their music, but what I got out of The first two albums era VU and Nico was a coldness that was a serious clash to what was happening where The Doors wanted the audience to get involved with their music, leading to part of the appeal and large popularity.

Norg

Slipknot cuz it RoXS

duga

Ehhh... While Ultramega OK is definitely a great album I still prefer Louder Than Love (and Badmotorfinger to that). The band was on a winning streak all the way up to Superunknown which easily ties with Badmotorfinger depending on my mood. In the context of a debut, it surely is a hefty one but the quality of their writing still had plenty of room to improve (as they did with each subsequent release - even up to Down on the Upside - while not as good overall, it still showed the peak of their growth as musicians).

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Confusion will be my epitaph...

Unknown Soldier

I've often gone on how great the Doors, Led Zeppelin, the Cars and Devo debut albums are, so I won't mention them here.

Here's another two of the very best though and can certainly match the above albums.

Pink Fairies Neverneverland 1971

A hard rocking psychedelic at times hippie classic, one of those albums to really impress people with its freak out feel.

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick 1977

With its Beatlesque hooks, Who styled power, overdriven amps and pure energy the Cheap Trick debut sounds like a rollarcoaster ride that's about to go off the rails at any moment, it was bolder and harder that what most punk bands were putting out in 1977 and of course it was full of Cheap Trick humour. In fact the record label were so shocked that they made the band tone things down for the second album.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

someonecompletelyrandom

Enter the 36 Chambers by the Wu is still their strongest release, in my opinion. It was just the right mixture raw production and casual listenablity that makes it the perfect introduction to all of their other work, and something you find yourself going back to time and time again.

Itunesucks

I was going to say this but now you have stolen my thunder sir/ma'am

Guybrush

Hatfield and the North's debut is my favorite debut album of all time.



It came out in 1974 and features a brilliant line-up. Richard Sinclair on vocals and bass, Dave Stewart on keyboards, Phil Miller on guitar and Pip Pyle on drums. In addition, some of the pieces feature vocals by the Northettes, a female trio made up of Amanda Parsons, Barbara Gaskins and Ann Rosenthal. Robert Wyatt also makes an appearance on one of the tracks.

There's some interesting story behind it, but I guess it won't mean much to people who don't know the Canterbury scene which is most I guess. Suffice to say that the music on this album is brilliant, beautiful and entirely unique. It's like they came up with something entirely new and it was just brilliant. The album features the perfect mix of talent and I just adore it on every level.

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Something Completely Different

anticipation

Never understood this. Wu-Tang Forever is absolutely miles and miles ahead of 36 Chambers in almost every way and yet people always say their debut is their best offering. Don't make no sense.